Piano accordion



F. PIATANESI PIANO ACCORDION June 4, 1935.

Filed ,Decf 20,' 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ajzozaes a' June 4,-1935. F. PIATANESI PIANO ACCORDION Filed Dec. 20, 1933 2 SheeS-Slleel 2 /l I/l [A Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to piano accordions, and one object is to reduce the size of the reed chest so as to make the instrument more compact and reduce its weight. Another object is to provide an improved arrangement for the mule bar control to facilitate adjustment and repair of this feature. Other objects will appear as the description proceeds. The invention includes certain features and elements of construction in combination as herein shown and described and as indicated by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a sectional view of my accordion construction, being taken at a horizontal plane, considering the instrument in position for playing, held against the body of the player with keys exposed outwardly at the right-hand side and with the reed chest adjacent thereto, the bellows and left-hand portion of the instrument being broken away.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the keyboard and adjacent parts, with portions broken away to disclose certain interior features.

Figure 3 is a detail section taken as indicated at line 3-3 on Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a rear View of the keyboard support with parts broken away to show a part of the reed chest with the muiiie bars in place.

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken substantially as indicated at line 5-5 on Figure 2, and showing the key tray with the keys therein lifted out of the support.

In my construction as shown in Figure l, the wall, I4, of the reed chest, I 0, is made integral with the bottom wall, I5, of the key manual support. As shown, this may be of three-ply wood, bent rather sharply at II to form an obtuse angle between the walls, I4 and I5, and dispensing with any overlap between said parts, as is usual when they are made from separate pieces of material. The wall, I4, thus extends directly from the intersection of the wall, I 5, with the apertured front wall, I8, of the reed chest, avoiding unnecessary width and volume of the reed chest.

The white keys, 2I, and the black keys, 22, are carried on pivot rods, 23 and 24, respectively, in a key tray, 25, or frame, which is a slotted wooden structure which ts bodily into the key support resting directly upon the back wall, I5, thereof. Associated with this wall at the right side is a rail, 2B, and at the upper and lower edges are end members, 21, which latter may lap onto the upper and lower ends of the reed chest, I 0. Additional rigidity for the keyboard may be insured by means of metal corner braces, I9, secured by screws is mounted on a base plate,

against the flange members or rails, 2l, and the front wall, I8, of the reed chest, as seen in Figure 5. An ornamental cover layer, 28, which may be of met-al, Celluloid or other suitable material ext-ends over the bent wall, I 4, I5, to provide a iinished appearance.

Preferably, a small section., 29, of this backing or cover material, 28, is separate from the remainder, so that it may be removed, if desired. This section may be made of. transparent or semi-transparent Celluloid, and directly overlies the trip mechanism shown at 332 on Figure 4. This is a familiar mechanism, and need not be described in detail; but its purpose is to transmit motion from a hinged bar, 3l, set into the rail, 2S, and connected to the mechanism by a link, 32. The motion is transmitted through links, 33 and 34, to a rock shaft, 35, whose arms, are connected to slide bars, 3l, having apertures, 38, as seen in Figure 4. These apertures register with one port, 39, of each group in the wall, I8, but when the bars, 31, are shifted to close the ports, 39, the result is to decrease the volume of tone. A spring, 40, reacting against the hinged bar, 3|, normally holds it at the outer limit of its range, and the mechanism at 30 is so designed that when one inward movement of the bar, 3l, has shiftedthe mufile bars, 3l, to open position, they will remain in that position until the next inward movement of the member, 3 I, shifts them to their closed position. The mechanism, 3E, 4I, which is secured to the under side of the key tray, 25, and a portion of the wall, I5, is cut away, as seen at Ilia, in Figure 5, to accommodate this mechanism when the key tray or frame is dropped into position. The removable section or window, 29, marginally overlaps this opening, i521, at I5b, so that it may be secured by glue or by screws, 42, but if the mechanism, 30, should need repair or adjustment, this window, 29, may be pried loose with a knife blade and removed for access to the mechanism without otherwise dismantlingr the instrument.

It will be seen that by simplifying the construction by the use of a continuous wall member bent to form the side wall of the reed chest and the back wall of. the key support, I eliminate unnecessary size and volume oi the reed chest, and produce a more compact instrument which can be held conveniently by the player because it is smaller and lighter, although nothing is sacriced in volume or quality of the tone produced. By the mounting of the trip mechanism as just described, under the keyboard, and with a readily vbling any other part of the instrument. And

by providing the key support or shell as a rigid part permanently attached to the wind chest and then mounting the keys in the separate keytray or frame, '25, I facilitate repair and adjustment by making it possible to readily remove the key assembly bodily by lifting the key Vframe, Z5, out of the shell formed by the wall, l5, and rails, 2B and 21. While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrange# ments of the parts may be made Without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, and that the same is not limited to the particular form herein shown and described, except in so far as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim: y

1. A piano accordion comprising a reed chest and a key manual support, the back wall of, said support being joined integrally to the back wall of the reed chest at an obtuse angle, and the outer ported wall of the reed chest intersecting its back wall substantially at the line of such junction.

2. A piano accordion comprising a reed chest and a key manual support rigidly and permanently connected thereto, the connection including an integral wall member forming the back wall of the support and the back wall of the reed chest, said back wall portions being joined to each other at an obtuse angle and the reed chest including an outwardly disposed ported wall which extends forwardly from the line of such junction.

3. In a piano accordion having a reed chest and a key manual support rigidly associated therewith, a continuous wall member forming the back integral wall of the reed chest and the back wall of the key manual support, said member being bent at an obtuse angle at the junction of said wall portions, the reed chest including an outwardly disposed ported wall which joins the back wall substantially at the apex of said angle, the manual support including flanges at its upper and lower ends extending transversely of said ported wall and adjacent thereto, and corner brackets connecting said flanges with said ported wall of the reed chest for bracing the key manual support.

4. In the combination deiined in claim 1, said key manual support having rails upstanding from the threev exposed edges of its back wall to form a shell, and a key frame in which the keys are iulcrumed and which is removably fitted into said shell.

FINAU PIATANESI. 

